The King Cobra Is Noticed To Be Divided Into Four Species

Using advanced genomic techniques, an international team led by researchers from IISc Bengaluru discovered that the King Cobra, formerly thought to be a single species found in the forests of India and Philippines, really belongs to four different species. The Western Ghats lineage, the Indo-Chinese lineage, the Indo-Malayan lineage, and the Luzon Island branch, found in the Philippines, are four independently developing, geographically distinct king cobra species identified by Indian scientists and colleagues. Theodore Cantor, a Danish naturalist, originally described the snake in 1836 after studying three specimens captured in the Sunderbans and one caught in a jungle near Calcutta.

According to the researchers, their findings would not only aid in the conservation of the famous snake, but it may also lead to the creation of higher-quality anti-venom compounds in the future. Their findings reveal the existence of numerous, previously unknown species of Ophiophagus hannah, the king cobra's taxonomic name. The researchers from India and their international partners examined 62 king cobra specimens gathered from across the snake's habitat to find crucial genetic markers that indicated proximity or distance.